Processing Sales Data Files Using the Analytics Admin Page

The Analytics Admin page provides a single location to process files loaded via FTP. After the user has FTPed the files to the Veeva Server, the user can access these files and process them on the Analytics Admin page.

Processing Sales Data Files Manually

After the files have been transferred via FTP, navigate to the Analytics Admin tab. The transferred files are listed in the Files Awaiting Processing section.

For each file in the Files Awaiting Processing section:

  1. Select a File Type from the picklist. The available file types in the picklist are the active Data_Map_Template_vod records that were previously established in the Data Map Template object.
  2. Assign a Data Date.
    • The Data Date corresponds to the date of the first bucket of data within the sales data file. The rolling time frames on the Analytics Reports use the Data Date field located on the Analytics Admin tab for all data points. If the Data Date is set to June (6/1/09) and the Rolling 6 Months time frame is selected, then data displays for 6/09, 5/09, 4/09, 3/09, 2/09, and 1/09. See Displaying Data Across Different Time Frames for more information about how data dates and data buckets interact.
  3. Select the Market for the sales data file.
    • The available markets are defined by the Analytics_Market_vod records
    • If the sales data file contains more than one market, then select Multiple Markets. The Multiple Markets option requires that the selected Data_Map_Template_vod record has the Markets_Mapped_vod field selected and that the market is mapped within the sales data file.
    • Additionally, if a file was mistakenly loaded to the server, admins can select Del next to the file name to delete the file from the server
  4. Select the check box next to each file to be processed.
  5. Select Process Files.

Each file is moved to the Files In Progress section while the data is being loaded.

Additionally, the admin processing the files receives an email with the following error reports for each file processed:

  • Zip Code Error Report
  • Product Error Report
  • Account Error Report
  • Brick Error Report
  • Data Channel Error Report
  • Payer Error Report
  • Territory Error Report
  • Market Error Report
  • Control Totals Report

See Running Error Reports for Analytics Files for more information on the error reports.

The following fields from the selected Data_Map_Template_vod are copied to the Analytics_File_vod record for each processed file:

  • Name
  • Buckets
  • Scale
  • Payer/Plan Mapped?
  • Territory Names Included?
  • Markets Mapped?
  • Column Label
  • Second Column Label
  • Decimal Places
  • Override Account Threshold
  • Formulary For Rep Label
  • Incremental Load Type
  • Contains Goals
  • Incremental

After the data from each file is processed, the file displays in the Staging Row Counts and the admin receives an email indicating that the file has completed processing.

Do not sign out of Salesforce while the data file load is being processed. You may close the browser window; if you leave the browser window open, the process may time out, which invalidates the browser session and stops the data load process.

Admins can check the following to ensure the sales data files are correctly processed:

  • Select Row Count to display the first row of data as it relates to the Data Map Template mapping. This allows admins to check how the data was mapped and if it was mapped correctly.
  • The Displayed Row Count for each file indicates the number of rows loaded for the sales data file. Admins can compare this count to the original file to ensure that all the data was loaded correctly.
  • For each file, admins can select the File Name to view the status of the related Analytics_File_vod record, if necessary, as well as view Control Reports and Error Reports
  • If any of the data is incorrect or there is an error, admins can select Del next to each incorrectly processed file, deleting the data from the Veeva repository and removing the corresponding data file from the server. Alternatively, admins can select Reprocess next to the an incorrectly processed file. This removes the data from the corresponding Veeva repository and returns the sales data file to the Files Awaiting Processing section.

To promote the data from Staging to Production, admin can select Confirm next to each file that should be promoted. This process performs the following actions:

  • The data is moved from Staging to Production Tables
  • The data that exists in Production that corresponds to the new confirmed data is deleted and replaced by the new data. The corresponding Data File for the old data is also removed and replaced with the new data.

Automating Sales Data File Processing

Processing sales data files in Veeva CRM can be automated to improve efficiency. Customers can set up a control (CTL) file to automatically process sales data files and upload it to their analytics FTP server. Customers must create one CTL file per sales data file.

For each sales data file, perform the following steps to automate the data processing:

  1. Create a CTL file using a text editor. The file should contain the following information and in the following format:
    • USER=vodadmin@customer.com
    • PASSWORD=password
    • DATA_DATE=01/01/2000
    • MARKET=COPD (for multiple markets, use MARKET=Multiple Markets)
    • DATA_MAP_TEMPLATE=COPD Template
    • MOVE_TO_PRODUCTION=True
    • FILENAME=Weekly_COPD.gzip
    • EMAIL=email@customer.com
  2. Upload the CTL file to the analytics FTP server in the ctlfile directory.

    The sales data file still needs to be uploaded to the analytics root of the FTP server.

    CTL File Field

    Description

    User

    Required. Salesforce username of the user who processes data files.

    Password

    Required. Salesforce password of the user who processes data files.

    Data_Date

    Required. The Data Date which corresponds to the date of the first bucket of data within the sales data file being processed, e.g., 01/01/2015. The format of the date specified in the control file should match the date format of the admin user's locale, specified on the User Profile page.

    Market

    Name of the market.

    Data_Map_Template

    Required Field. Name of the data map template used when processing the file.

    Move_To_Production

    True or False.

    Filename

    Required. File name of the sales data file that is to be processed.

    Email

    The email address to receive error messages.

When the files are uploaded and start being processed, admins receive an email stating that the processing has begun. If no email is received within five minutes of uploading the files, there is an authentication error. Customer should check the CTL file to ensure the username and password are correct.

When processing very large sales data files, the automated processing keeps the admin signed into Salesforce while processing. This prevents the admin’s session from expiring. Expired sessions can cause failures in the automation process. Any other errors that occur during processing, other than authentication, are identified and sent to the admin via email when the data processing completes.